


Its (Always Been) You

by dreamychenle



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Lee Jeno is Whipped, M/M, Mutual Pining, can you blame him tho??, chensung are cute, donghyuck and jaemin are partners in crime, i love noren so much, rated T for swearing but thats about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25839154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamychenle/pseuds/dreamychenle
Summary: Jeno has a big fat crush on Renjun.----(me too tbh)
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 39
Kudos: 202





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hi!!  
> This fic was born from me watching the same 4 noren compilation videos over and over again and that one NCT Dream Under The Blanket ep where Renjun asked Jeno to come help him paint, yeah <3  
> I've been writing this over the course of like 4 months and its mostly finished-ish so the rest'll be posted soon,, okay very cool and good <3

"You have a crush on Renjun." Jaemin says it with such conviction in his voice that Jeno nearly accepts his words without a second guess. His gaze is so solid and _sure_ that it invites no questioning yet Jeno questions because _what the fuck does he mean by that?_  
  
"What?-- _What?_ " Jeno sputters, eyes growing three sizes larger to fully gaze at the male seated across from him in shock and questioning.  
  
It’s a rainy Thursday afternoon, Jeno and Jaemin are the on their way back to the dorms after the successful conclusion of a photo shoot they did today. They were up and at the set from much early in the morning, worked throughout the day and were finally on their way home; Jeno was beyond tired and wanted nothing more than to climb into bed, burrow deeply into his sheets and take a break from existing for the next few days.  
  
Too exhausted to bother Jaemin when they had initially gotten into the van, Jeno opted to rest his forehead against the cool glass and stare out the window; his attention jumping from the little racing droplets of rain on the tinted glass, to the cars outside, to the few people walking along the streets and their colourful umbrellas on display.  
  
Jaemin had been quiet for the most part up until now as he had opted to scroll through Twitter on his phone.  
  
And so when Jaemin shatters their comfortable silence, completely unprompted, and abruptly blurts out that Jeno has feelings for their band mate as if it’s some pre-existing fact, Jeno thinks he has every right to be confused.

“You heard what I said, Lee Jeno, don’t play dumb with me,” He whispers poking Jeno’s chest with his index finger, tone so sharp that Jeno startles.

Jeno looks at him, confusion and discomfort rising; _Yes_ he had heard him and _that’s_ exactly the problem here.

“What do you mean I have a crush on Renjun? I’m not gay?” The words slipping off of his tongue feel so foreign they may as well be in a different language; they come off more as a question than anything else and Jaemin smirks, shrugging his way too large shoulders.

“Never said you were gay,” He goes back to scrolling through Twitter, eyebrows raised, “Just said you liked Injunnie.” He says nonchalantly and Jeno is still utterly confused because what on earth would convince Jaemin that he had a crush on Renjun?

“I thought you were conscious of it, you know?” Jaemin begins again before Jeno has the chance to ask him to elaborate, “You’re super _clingy_ and _touchy_ with him yet you won’t even let me or Hyuckie kiss you,” he pouts, Jeno rolls his eyes, “not to mention, you are _po-ssess-ive,_ ” the pink-haired male whistles lowly after to make his point before continuing,

“But like, then I realized that you actually have no clue that you like him and that’s so crazy! So you’re welcome or whatever.”

Jeno shakes his head in disbelief, scoffing at Jaemin’s accusations, “Okay, _firstly_ , I don’t let you or Donghyuck kiss me because y’all are perverted old men,”--Jaemin gasps dramatically, a hand flying to his chest to emphasize his offense.

“We are not! Also I’m younger than you, fool! And so is Donghyuck!”

Jeno disregards him in favour of continuing, _“Secondly_ , I still don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Jaemin’s previously aghast face morphs into a fully grinning one, all perfect white teeth and lip and so chesire-like that Jeno shrinks under his gaze because he _knows_ Jaemin well enough to know that whatever he’s going to say next is going to make him extremely embarrassed, immensely uncomfortable or both.

He wiggles his perfectly sculpted eyebrows at Jeno, glancing at him as he opens up the YouTube app on his phone, “You wanna see the fan compilation vids? I think [**this**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IeTigyaUJY) one’s really cute, oh! And [**this**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9ZzWVuLwh0) one where you’re so obviously jealous whenever I touch him! Or th—“

The van comes to a halt and Jeno has never been more elated to be home, he flings open the door, grabbing his umbrella and pulling his hood over his head—dashing out of the van into the still pouring rain and as far away from Jaemin as he can get for now (until he inevitably corners him in the dorm and mercilessly makes fun of him some more, of course).

If Jeno avoids Renjun a lot more than usual that night—refusing to speak to him unless spoken to and ultimately ignoring him even though they share a room—the older male doesn’t say anything about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things return to normal rather quickly as Jeno decides to ignore whatever weird fantasy Jaemin and their fans have cooked up; if he says he doesn’t have a crush on Renjun then he doesn’t have a crush on Renjun dammit! (And no amount of RenJen or JenRen or NoRen compilations that Jaemin insists on sending him can change that!).

Jeno figures that as long as Renjun isn’t being harassed by Jaemin with all this ship stuff then he can ignore it.

That’s easy; No problem; Jeno’s capable of that.

Or so he’d like to think...but things aren’t that simple, life is hard and now he finds himself second guessing everything he does where Renjun is concerned.

If he chooses to sit beside Renjun in a Vlive, he gets overly self-conscious at their proximity and finds it unbelievably hard to focus on the task at hand. He’s afraid of doing something that’ll fuel the fire and give Jaemin and the shippers more ammunition against him.

Sure, he thinks Renjun is cute and he’s definitely thought of dating him before but isn’t that normal? What kind of friend are you if you don’t wanna date your friends just a little bit? Jeno doesn’t mind holding a homie’s hand or taking them out to eat lunch. (He backtracks on that statement afterwards as the thought of dating Jaemin enters his mind and he nearly pukes all over himself—okay maybe not then.)

And sure, Jeno likes being a little touchy with Renjun but so do Jaemin and Donghyuck! (He feels an uncomfortable feeling settle in his chest at the thought of anyone other than himself being handsy with Renjun but that’s neither here nor there.)

And sure, he’s hugged the older male before and liked the way Renjun’s tiny frame slots together so nicely with his own and his heart races at the thought. He _really_ likes the way Renjun fits in his arms; but its not like it _means_ anything.

And sure, he’s thought of _k*ssing_ Renjun many times before but—

“ _Oh my God_ ,” Jeno shoots up out of his bed, his head smacking violently against the top bunk where Renjun is fast asleep—the high pitched whine that leaves his throat is embarrassing and doesn’t go unnoticed by Renjun who is very much a light sleeper.

He’s rubbing at his forehead, trying his hardest not to cry when Renjun shifts on the bed above him and peers down at him. The room is dark, save for the moonlight filtering through their open window, and when Renjun peers down at him, hair mussed up from sleep, eyes barely open and lips crinkled into a pout. Jeno’s heart rate picks up and suddenly the pain in his forehead dulls in comparison to whatever the hell is going on in his chest.

“Are you okay?” Renjun’s light and airy albeit sleepy voice filters down towards him in otherwise silent room and Jeno gulps.

Jaemin was right.

“Fuck.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeno falls deeper and Jaemin is of no help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY JAEMIN DAY!!!<3 i hope he does a live bc i rlly do be missing him ;;-;;  
> n e ways,  
> Hi hi!! I've come with chapter 2!!  
> As I was editing and proof-reading this chapter I had a whole new set of ideas and ended up basically rewriting more than half of it,,lmao thats kimda craaazy TT-TT  
> Anyways, im a bit more satisfied with this version and i hope it doesn't disappoint!!!!!,, so uhh yes, very cool and nice <3  
> leave comments if u wanna <3 i like reading them <3  
> okay leTS GO!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _"Fuck."_  
  
"Yah! Lee Jeno, don’t curse at me, 'm older than you," Renjun slurs sleepily. He takes a lazy swipe at Jeno's head before readjusting himself so his cheek is pressed against both his hands that now lightly grip the cool iron bar of the bunk bed's safety rail. He continues staring down at Jeno in a soft and tired daze as he waits for an actual answer.  
  
"Sorry, sorry," Jeno says insincerely, sticking his tongue out at the male above him who smiles lazily in response, "I had a nightmare?" He tries as explanation and Renjun hums, tired eyes never leaving his own.  
  
"Wanna talk about it? I don’t mind listening," He says with a yawn and Jeno shakes his head dismissively, trying his hardest to think about anything that doesn’t involve how _CUTE_ Renjun is.  
  
"You’re tired; go back to bed, old man."  
  
Renjun scoffs and rolls his eyes, "Shut up."  
  
And with that, he rolls back into bed, back turned to Jeno as he wriggles deeper beneath his sheets. Another yawn wracks his tiny frame before he ultimately settles down again and quietly drifts off.

The realization hits Jeno harder than that time Chenle accidentally sent a basketball flying at his face full force and he anxiously wonders just how obvious he’s been up until this point and for how _long?_

If Jaemin’s noticed…does that mean the other members have?

_Has Renjun noticed?_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeno groans in exhausted frustration and burrows himself deeper between the couch cushions; the drama on the TV had been long forgotten as his thoughts tormented him mercilessly. He’d put it on in hopes of distracting himself and relaxing for a bit but to no avail—it’s a _romance_ drama and inevitably, Jeno can’t help but think of himself and Renjun in place of the main couple.

It was now Saturday afternoon of the following week, they were all at home today; save for Chenle who didn’t live with them unless it was during a comeback, of course. Donghyuck himself didn’t live with them either unless it was comeback time too, but he claims to _“love them too much that if he stayed away for too long, he’d die”_ and dropped in for an unannounced visit yesterday. He was now huddled up under the sheets in the spare room furthest down the corridor watching YouTube videos on Jaemin’s laptop.

In Jaemin and Jisung’s shared room, the former was catching up on extra sleep while the latter was playing games on his phone as usual.

Last Jeno checked, Renjun was in their own room scrolling through SNS and laughing to himself every time he came across some meme or funny video. He’d start giggling in that way that made it obvious he was trying desperately not to be too loud and then he'd get choked up on his own laughter—heaving and squeaking in a way that could only be described as _really fucking cute_.

Not liking the way his chest would fill up stifling warmth and fuzziness every time Renjun _laughed_ , Jeno had opted to go watch TV in living room by himself a whole entire _hour_ ago to clear his head but _that_ obviously hasn’t worked out very well for him because his brain doesn’t like him and wants to make him suffer.

He watches as the main leads share their first kiss in the rain and his brain gets to thinking: _“What if you and Renjun kissed in the rain? lololol.”_

Jeno groans once more. 

“I swear to God, Lee Jeno if you groan _**one more time**_.”

Jeno sits up abruptly, frantic eyes searching the surrounding area for the source of the offended voice.

It’s Renjun’s voice, tightly laced with annoyance as he glares at Jeno from where he’s seated around their dining table. His art supplies are splayed out everywhere and he looks like he’d been settled there for quite some time now. The paintbrush in his hand is poised above whatever he had been painting just seconds ago as he continues to glare at Jeno.

Jeno reddens a little and offers the older male an apologetic look.

 _“Good Job, Jeno, very embarrassing! Gold star for you!”_ The annoying voice in his head chastises. He tells it to shut up.

“If you’re gonna have an existential crisis, do it quietly like the rest of us,” Renjun quips, focus already redirected onto his painting.

Jeno laughs nervously, “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to hear you groan ten times, kick the sofa handle five times and try to suffocate yourself with the cushion thrice, seriously, what’s got you so worked up? If you don't like that drama just change it.” Renjun muses, the initial annoyance in his voice replaced with thinly veiled amusement and mild concern.

Renjun’s exaggerating and Jeno knows that because he’s only tried to suffocate himself _TWICE_ , thank you very much.

Jeno doesn’t respond, however.

He doesn’t know how to...

It’s not very acceptable for him to blurt out that he figured out he’s had a crush on Renjun for who knows how long just last week, is it?

And to the crush in question no less...

He's not a self-proclaimed “confident gay” like Jaemin or Donghyuck are—he’d _die_ before he could tell Renjun how he feels…

Jeno stares at him for a few beats, trying to come up with some believable lie on the spot when Renjun looks up at him once more; he no longer looks annoyed as he stares at Jeno with soft eyes that gaze at the younger through light blond strands of hair. His full attention is on Jeno for the second time this evening and as if that wasn't already a lot for Jeno's poor heart to deal with, he tilts his head curiously and smiles; small and cute.

It’s soft and fond and Jeno wants to _cry_ because _‘ohmYGOSH WHY IS HE LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT???’_

Jeno's (maybe) about to start bawling on spot but before the first tear can fall, Renjun's speaking again,

“Come paint with me,” He asks suddenly.

“Huh?” Jeno looks at him in pure confusion because he can’t understand why Renjun would willingly invite him to possibly mess up his work. Jeno’s not the best at that kinda stuff and will almost certainly spill something or get paint somewhere where it shouldn’t be.

And despite that Renjun looks earnest in every way; as if he _genuinely_ wants Jeno to come fuck up his painting.

“Come paint with me. It’ll take your mind off of whatever it is that’s making you go crazy.” Renjun waves his hands a little wildy to make his point, smile never leaving his face.

Jeno swallows thickly, thoughts running a mile a minute; how the hell does he explain to this boy that _he’s_ the one making him go crazy?

After a bit of contemplative silence, Jeno concedes and goes over to the blond. He has out a mostly empty canvas that Jeno remembers he'd only just gotten two days ago.

He remembers this because he listened and watched the older boy whine and beg their manager to stop by the art store and pick it up for him.

It was a very weird scene to watch unfold and Jeno had only left his room to go get a bottle of water. He halts in surprise when he happens upon their manager with a stubborn ball of Renjun glued to his right leg.

"Hyung, please, I'll never ask you for anything ever again! I promise!" Renjun pleads, his grip unrelenting and vice-like as he looked up at their manager from his place on the floor where he sat hugging his leg.

The older male deadpans at the blond eliciting a tiny, abashed laugh from said boy, "Okay, fine, that's lie," Renjun relents.

Their manager nods and tries to leave once more but Renjun won't give up that easily and he tightens hip grip even more than before.

_Then_ comes the onslaught of begging,

"Please please please _please?_ " Jeno watches in unashamed amusement from the hallway; Renjun only ever gets like this for two reasons: Art supplies and food.

"If you don't buy it for me today I'll have to sneak out on my own to get it and who knows what'll happen to a tiny, frail boy like me, hyung? I could get hit by a truck, hyung and it'll all be your fault. And then at my funeral you'll—,"

"Okay, _okay,_ " A defeated sigh falls from the other males lips as he regards the blond on his leg wearily, " Okay, fine, I'll try, just-- _please let go_."

Renjun releases him happily, "Thank you, hyung!", He stands up immediately with a satisfied smile on his face. Their manager gives him a look of exasperation before shaking his head and making his way towards the door. He turns around to give Renjun a tired wave and upon noticing Jeno in the hallway, he waves at him too and then, he's gone.

3 hours later, Jeno observes a proud and smug Renjun waltz into their room with his brand new canvas.

Back to the situation at hand, Jeno doesn't really know what Renjun's painting; he might not be painting anything specific at all _really_ —just playing around with paint and mixing colours.

Yet, despite its abstract nature, Renjun seems to know exactly what he's doing and what he wants to go where. It looks amazing so far; beautiful mixtures of colour dancing together, all interwoven elegantly onto the canvas; Jeno can’t hold back the smile that graces his face.

The older male moves over to make space for Jeno, pulling out the chair beside him and pushing over a bunch of paint brushes and paint containers in his direction. Renjun looks up at him expectantly and pats the empty chair cushion.

Jeno fidgets with the buttons on his shirt, “A-are you sure you want me to paint this with you? You’re not afraid I’ll mess it up?”

Renjun chuckles, his eyes crinkle all cutely and his cheeks get all full and Jeno has to look away for the better part of his sanity.

“Oh I know you’ll mess it up,” He teases, dipping his paintbrush in the already muddy looking water then dries it in an equally messy looking napkin, “But I don’t mind, you know? Painting together might be fun.” Renjun concludes, shyly.

Jeno bites his lip, nods dumbly and grabs a paintbrush; he carefully chooses a colour and tries to follow Renjun’s lead closely and carefully.

He’s a little apprehensive at first, not really knowing what to put where; but then Renjun laughs at him, all sweet and airy and says _“Come onnn, Jen, I don’t need to teach you how to use a paintbrush, do I?”_ and that’s all Jeno needs to start painting with a little bit more confidence.

They paint in comfortable silence for the better part of an hour; Jeno’s heart racing around his ribcage every time they brush hands or Renjun praises his choice of colour or technique.

Jeno’s unoccupied hand had gone from sitting awkwardly in his lap, to being draped on the back of Renjun’s chair. Renjun, himself, was suddenly so much closer, so much so, that Jeno’s own chest was pressed up against his right hand. Jeno reckoned this is the closest he’s ever gotten to Renjun for once barring any time he’s done it just for fan service and well, it feels _nice_.

_Like something he could get used to._

Just moments later, without even realizing it himself, the younger male had stopped painting completely and settled contently with just— _watching_. Renjun’s features are soft and relaxed as he focuses only on pigments and canvas. His lips would occasionally turn up into a tiny smile whenever he liked the blend he was getting as he hummed random tunes to himself. Jeno studied his face reverently; when did Renjun become this _pretty?_

The blond, having yet to notice Jeno’s staring, leans back and quietly assesses the progress of their work,

"And you said you'd mess it up! It looks so pretty so far! What do you think?" Renjun comments cheerfully, lifting up the canvas to get a better look. He lets out a pleased hum and waits for Jeno to give his own thoughts on the work but he receives nothing but radio silence.

This prompts him to look over at Jeno who’s so caught up in staring; he barely hears a word coming from the other.

"..Jen?" Renjun calls again, lightly slapping at the younger’s chest—effectively startling him and making his eyes widen and shoulders hike up.

_He’s been caught! Abandon ship!_

"Wha? — Oh! Yeah! You're pretty—," Jeno blushes at the mistake, coughing in utter embarrassment before clearing his throat, “ _It’s_ pretty! I meant to say—it’s pretty—the painting is— _yeah_ …” He stutters, trying to salvage what very little dignity he has left; it’s too late, Renjun’s heard him and the cheeky expression that slides onto his face makes Jeno want to drill a hole in the ground and stay there.

It sounds like an amazing idea, really, and Jeno decides that when he _does_ drill the hole, he’ll relegate the task of “bringing Jeno food” to Jisung; he’ll be able to live out the rest of his days in a tiny hole free from embarrassment and Renjun’s pretty eyes because Jisung’s a real one and won’t let Jeno starve.

Renjun plays it off easily and jokingly rolls his eyes at him, “Thank you but I already knew _that_. I was talking about the painting, nerd.”

“I— _sorry_.” Is all Jeno manages to say, flushing with pure _humiliation_ ;

_That hole idea is sounding more and more enticing by the minute…_

Renjun snickers light-heartedly, using a hand to rub at his eye, accidentally smearing a bit of red paint onto his cheek. He notices immediately and deadpans at his own mistake,

“I got paint on my face didn’t I?” He rubs the area again, smearing the paint even more and making it even worse than before, “This is what I get for making fun of you.”

He heaves out a tiny groan of mild annoyance, smiling stupidly as he continues making it worse for himself.

“Ugh, just let me do it,” Jeno murmurs in playful annoyance, shaking his head dismissively at Renjun’s earlier comment. He grabs a clean napkin and dampens it with the clean water Renjun had caught in a separate cup earlier (because he’s _lazy_ and doesn’t wanna stop painting to go get a new cup of water to wash his brushes in when he’s in the _zone,_ okay?).

He grabs Renjun’s face gently with both hands, tenderly wiping at the paint smear on his cheek.

—And yeah okay, _maybe_ Jeno should’ve thought this one out a little more; he’s always so eager to help Renjun that he didn’t stop to think _“Hmm maybe I should put some distance between us before going and grabbing his face because now we're hella close and ohhh boy am I embarrassed.”_

Jeno’s heart is losing its _shit_ in his chest and Renjun himself isn’t any better at hiding how flustered he is; his face tinges pink and he’s eyeing Jeno in silent astonishment.

They’re close— _painfully_ so; Jeno realizes this after he’s finished cleaning up Renjun’s face.

He could’ve let go seconds ago, but his hands are stubborn and they stay put, cupping Renjun’s flushed cheeks. He’s reluctant to move away—doesn’t want _this_ , whatever _this_ is, to end because Renjun looks so cute when he’s blushing like this,

—When he’s blushing _because of Jeno._

His eyes flick down towards Renjun’s lips and everything in his mind is screaming at him to _“Let go!! Move away!! Before you do something stupid, Lee Jeno, I swear!!”_

But he’s planted in place and the only direction he wants to move in—the only direction his _heart_ wants him to move in is closer;

Closer, closer, _closer_ \--

_"Ohoyayaya!”_

The moment is quickly shattered by a way too loud and annoying voice that belongs to none other than Na Jaemin; it echoes throughout the dorm and bursts whatever quiet bubble the two males had been so comfortably existing in mere seconds ago.

Jeno pulls away almost immediately, his other hand jerking suddenly and knocking over the cup of muddy paint water.

The next few events occur in slow motion as the water spills all over Renjun and himself; the cup unhelpfully rolls off the table along with a few of Renjun’s paint brushes crashing onto the floor as well. Jeno can feel the paint water thoroughly soaking his clothes and his underwear and-- _ **oh gosh he’s going to strangle Jaemin in his sleep.**_

He looks over at Renjun who seems to have it much worse as most of the paint water had managed to spill on him _and_ the painting. Jeno blanches, eyes wide, furious apology on the tip of his tongue but before he can speak Jaemin’s laughing his ass off; loud and upsetting as he beats the table in amusement.

 _"Na Jaemin...”_ Renjun grits his teeth angrily, pinching his wet pajama shirt away from his body. He releases the fabric and sends Jaemin the sharpest, most threatening glare he can muster.

Jeno figures that if it weren’t for the laws of this land, Renjun would have climbed over the table and murdered Jaemin already.

“I’m sorry, babies; did I interrupt your _date_?”

Renjun huffs in annoyed confusion while Jeno balls up a bunch of wet napkins and throws them at the offending male’s head.

 _“Jaemin...”_ Jeno says, tone full of danger and warning and Jaemin pouts, deflating instantly. He sighs heavily and regards Jeno and Renjun with an equally upset look,

“Look, I’m sorry but like seriously? You guys should just _get together already_ ,” He says folding his arms, “Chensung are already a thing! Emotionally constipated Jisung is in a relationship! You two should be _ashamed._ ” He bawls dramatically, pointing an accusing finger at both males who look equally unimpressed.

And almost as if by some work of magic, at the mention of his name, Jisung comes fumbling down the stairs; zooming through the dining room and into the hall, he bumps into Jaemin on the way and nearly crashes into the entrance table.

“Yah! Park Jisung! No running in the house! You’ll get hurt!— _again._ ”

The last time Jisung had hurt himself in the dorms included freshly cleaned floors, socks and a broken lamp. Jeno remembers having to console a bawling Jaemin who was convinced Jisung had _died_ even though the younger had gotten up just fine afterwards.

Jisung disregards his shouts completely as he stands in front of the door; he runs a hand through his brown hair and tries to level his ragged breathing.

The three boys look on in varying levels of confusion before it all starts to make sense.

The door bell chimes loudly, echoing through the suspense-filled silence; Jisung waits for 4 beats before he swings the door open coolly to reveal a bright Chenle grinning at him. He has a backpack with him and is bundled up cutely in a sweater, scarf and beanie.

(Jeno figures his mother wouldn’t leave home this late without wearing them, even though they’re in the middle of summer.)

Chenle’s grinning so widely that it reduces his eyes to slits but even so, the joy in his eyes are evident and Jisung looks at him in the same sweet and fond way.

Jeno takes quick notice of Chenle wearing what he _knows_ is Jisung’s purple hoodie and— _huh?_

_Hold on...wait a damn minute...Chensung?_

_“They’re dating?”_ Jeno shrieks in quiet disbelief and Jaemin throws him a pointed look and nods at him in a way that feels almost condescending. He tears his eyes away from Jeno to once again to look at the couple.

 _“--Since when?”_ Jeno wants to ask but is cut off by Chenle’s shriek,

“Jisungie!~” He burrows himself into Jisung’s open arms, catching the younger very much off guard. Jisung falters a little, clearly embarrassed but hugs him back happily anyway. Chenle reaches up to place a short kiss onto Jisung’s cheek. The tiny sound the younger makes followed by reddening of the tips of his ears is enough to bring a satisfied smirk onto Chenle's lips once he's stepped back.

“Hyungs!” Chenle yells next and runs into the dining room where they’re all assembled—Jaemin cuts him a sly and knowing look while the other two smile at his endearing behaviour.

Jeno’s glad to see him and if he wasn’t soaked down to his _butt-crack_ in paint water, he’d get up and hug him.

Chenle’s smile falters as he fully takes in the scene in front of him,

“Uhhh…should I ask or…?” Chenle begins, pointing between the two males covered in gross looking water.

By this time, Jisung’s stopped fan-boying by the door _because his boyfriend kissed him on the cheek_ and has come to stand beside Chenle, equal amounts of confusion etched on his still blushing face.

“Please do not.” Renjun answers sharply and Chenle accepts the response much easier than Jeno thought he would have.

“Okay! Very Cool and good!” Chenle claps loudly, “Have fun doing whatever weird thing you guys were doing before I got here!” He grabs a still confused Jisung’s hand and pulls him upstairs (to play some new mobile game Jisung found and cuddle, _no doubt_ ) and everything falls silent again.

Jaemin turns back to them eyebrows raised and hums, all high pitched and chiding before gathering himself and sauntering haughtily into the kitchen.

Jeno sighs out a tired apology, finally turning to the male beside him, who’s currently packing up his art supplies; he smiles at Jeno, all disappointed yet sweet. He doesn’t seem angry at him and Jeno is relieved, though he still feels absolutely _awful._

 _“What kind of fool spills paint water all over their crush, Lee Jeno???!!! You’re the worst k-drama lead ever!!”_ The voice returns again and this time, Jeno has no choice but to agree.

“It’s okay.” Renjun dismisses meekly, he pinches the canvas between two fingers and lifts it up off the table. They both watch as the muddy water mixes weirdly with the previously applied paint and falls off in tiny droplets, adding to the mess on the table.

Jeno sighs, grabbing another set of napkins to soak up the extra water.

He'll ask their manager later if he knows anybody who'd be willing to drill a hole in the ground for Jeno to go live and possibly die in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the mess is cleaned up, Renjun leaves to go put the canvas on the balcony; Jeno lets him have the bathroom first so he can shower while he grumpily makes his way to the kitchen to find his pink-haired nuisance of a best friend.

On his way there he bumps into Donghyuck who shamelessly bursts out laughing the moment he sees Jeno. The paint water had dried mostly, but the big odd stain it had left on his shirt was still very much visible.

“Lmaoooo, _wait_ , Jaemin was being _serious?”_ He squawks incredulously, he brings a hand up to his mouth in shock and amusement, “I thought those texts were a joke! You actually spilled paint water everywhere on you and Jun’s first date? Jeno, _baby_ …” He chides softly, shaking his head in absolute disapproval,

“You’re supposed to get him wet _after_ the date, not _during_ … _unless_ that’s what you two are into,” Donghyuck grins disgustingly; he throws a suggestive wink in Jeno's direction and the older boy wastes no time in finding the closest object he can launch at Donghyuck’s head.

By the time Jeno’s grabbed one of Jisung’s house slippers and thrown it at Donghyuck, the other boy is already halfway down the corridor; he escapes the slipper just by a few inches and cackles manically before sticking his tongue out at Jeno and slipping into his room.

(He assumes Jeno won’t just follow him in there and beat him up and _for now_ , his assumption is correct because Jeno has someone else to go beat up.)

When Jeno finally enters the kitchen, he sees Jaemin stirring a steaming pot of _something_. He doesn’t notice Jeno right away but when he does, the younger male’s motions come to a complete halt. He grabs a towel and dries his hands before cornering Jeno by the fridge.

“I’m staging an intervention.” He’s too close for Jeno’s comfort and when Jaemin picks up on this, he cuts him a satisfied smirk and folds his arms. He’s wearing one of those ridiculous kitchen aprons that say _“Kitchen Bitch”_ in pink sparkly letters that Donghyuck got him as a joke for Christmas. Jeno finds it extremely hard to take him seriously dressed like _that._

“Since you’re too afraid to make your move, Hyuckie and I are gonna...help ya out a bit.”

“Help me out? Who says I need your help?” Jeno challenges, folding his arms as well; Jaemin squawks as if he's the one who's been wronged.

“ _I do!_ I’m tired of watching you pine over him from _afar_ ; the fan fictions I read just aren’t cutting it anymore, Jeno!” Jaemin yells dramatically, he grabs hold of Jeno’s shoulders and shakes him lightly, “I need the real thing!”

“ _F-fan fictions?_ _What?”_ Jeno cries out indignantly, “ _Jaemin, Please_ stop talking—I beg of you,” Jeno whines, swatting away Jaemin’s hands from his shoulders, “We were literally about to k—,” Jeno lowers his voice a little bit as he hears the tell tale sound of the bathroom door swinging open, _“We were literally about to kiss—_ _before you yelled and made me spill water everywhere!”_

“I know, _I know!_ and I'm sorry! I just got a little excited!” Jaemin pouted, "—But then you spilled the water everywhere and—," Jaemin bursts out into a giggling fit only earning him an unimpressed look from the other boy. 

Right, yes, he was supposed to be apologizing— _oops_.

Jaemin doesn't like the idea that Jeno's upset with him, even if it _is_ entirely his fault in the first place and so chooses to bring out his ultimate (not-so-secret) secret weapon— _puppy eyes and aegyo._

“Jenooow, Jaeminnie’s sowwyyy! Don’t be mad at me, pweaseee,” He’s jutting out his bottom lip, squishing at his cheeks and wiggling his body weirdly—Jeno nearly gags. The biggest downside to being best friends for so long is Jaemin knows almost every one of his likes, dislikes as well as pet-peeves and things he just downright cannot stand and he _knows_ Jeno’ll agree to anything just to get him to _stop talking like that_.

Jeno sighs in defeat; aegyo aside, he can’t stay mad at Jaemin for very long because Jeno loves him too much; a fact that the younger male enjoys exploiting to get his way.

“Okay fine, how do you intend to help me then?”

Jaemin’s smile is back on his face just as quickly as it had left and fights the urge to roll his eyes. He backs away almost immediately, turning on his heels and skipping back towards the pot, humming some random song, “ _Oh, you’ll see_ ,”

And see, Jeno did...

_...Unfortunately._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading ^-^  
> stay safe <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaemin and Donghyuck SUCK and Jeno is annoyed.  
> The NOREN ship however, finally sets sail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! yES!! I've returned,, getting this chapter out took much longer than i wouldve liked for it to and i apologize!! editing it took a hot minute because i kept feeling unsatisfied with it and i was a bit busy ;;-;; n e ways, here it is lol <3 sorry about any mistakes, microsoft word and i can only do so much lol hopefully this is good lmao  
> as always, kudos and comments are appreciated!!   
> very cool and good <3

Fast forward to much later that evening and per Donghyuck’s request, they’ve all set up for a movie night in their small living room; Jeno’s on the big couch in the centre of the room and Chensung (as Jaemin so lovingly calls them now) on the floor just in front of him.

Renjun had chosen to sit on the smaller couch off to the side which he had claimed as his _“special movie spot”_ the very first time they had a movie night together. He claims it’s in the _prime position_ for the best viewing.

 _—That_ and the fact that it’s much too small to accommodate more than one person so he can enjoy the movie with little distraction (*cough* *cough* JAEMIN AND DONGHYUCK *cough*)

 _—_ And so this time around, when the two previously mentioned distractions squeeze themselves into _Renjun’s special movie spot_ where the oldest had already been comfortably curled up, he quite understandably releases a tiny shout of annoyance, glaring at them incredulously.

“Ow! You’re squeezing me!” He hisses, wiggling aggressively, “—this is my spot! Why are you guys _here?”_

Donghyuck offers up a weak and mocking laugh as he continues wiggling around to get comfortable,

“ _Hmmm_ , I don’t remember seeing your name anywhere,” He says, voice laced with mock thoughtfulness. The space is unbelievably tight and as much as Donghyuck would rather be on the large cream coloured couch that Jeno has all to himself over in the middle of the room ( _lucky bastard_ ), Donghyuck has a _job_ to do and so he pretends as if the sofa's arm _isn’t_ currently in the process of trying to rearrange his ribs and twists himself a little so he can throw Renjun a challenging grin. Renjun hisses again at the movement because three people are _absolutely not meant to sit in this couch!_

“Yeah but _like_ \--we agreed this is my spot for when we watch movies!” He argues causing Jaemin to shake his head vigorously, eyebrows raised in interest.

“I don’t remember agreeing to anything,” He answers with a laugh, “Chenle, Jisung, Jeno did you guys agree to anything?” he asks throwing a questioning glance towards the others. Chenle shrugs in disinterest while Jisung shakes his head; Jeno simply doesn’t answer, choosing to look on in poorly hidden amusement.

“It was a silent agreement--an _understanding_ that I sat here first so this couch is mine.”

“Bold of you to assume Donghyuck and I understand anything.” Jaemin says haughtily, he has that really annoying condescending look on his face with his nose upturned and there’s an amused smile tugging at his lips that makes Renjun want to pinch him.

So he does.

_“Ow!”_

Renjun doesn’t understand why Jaemin and Donghyuck have _both_ decided to annoy him right now-–seeing as it’s usually one or the other (mostly Donghyuck because he seems to get some sort of weird sadomasochistic kick out of annoying Renjun—a kink thing maybe? He wouldn’t put it past Donghyuck to be honest...).

Whatever it is, Renjun’s not super in the mood to deal with them right now; he’s tired and still pretty upset about his and Jeno’s painting being absolutely _ruined_ and if Jaemin hadn’t made hotpot for dinner as a peace offering, Renjun would’ve roundhouse kicked him into another life when he’d bumped into him in the kitchen after his shower.

-–And so he chooses to just sit somewhere else (They can have his spot this time but next time, _there will be war_.)

“Fine,” Renjun concedes, Jaemin and Donghyuck smile gleefully, “I’ll just go sit somewhere else.”

 _“_ ** _NO!_** _”_ The two call out in unison, smiles falling from their faces almost immediately, Renjun startles, looking from Jaemin to Donghyuck then back at Jaemin again in mild shock before apprehensively asking: _“What? Why not?”_

The answer he receives is Donghyuck and Jaemin both turning to look at one Lee Jeno; they pin him in place with annoyingly smug faces and the most he can do is stare back in utter confusion. Renjun’s eyes follow their gaze and he grows even more puzzled than before. He wants to ask what Jeno has to do with any of this but before he gets the chance, Donghyuck is speaking,

“ _Because_ ,” He drawls sweetly, lightly taking hold of Renjun’s chin, “--we love you, _baby_! We wanna cuddle you!” Donghyuck sings, trying (and failing) to plant a wet kiss on Renjun’s cheek; he keeps his eyes on Jeno, wearing a nasty grin on his face.

“You’re just too cute to resist!” Jaemin adds cheerfully as he pinches at Renjun’s cheeks. He’s making obnoxiously loud kissing noises and equally obnoxious kissy _faces_ at him and Renjun gags, disgust clear on his face before throwing a random punch in Jaemin’s direction.

_Ah, so this is what they’re up to._

Jeno should’ve known it’d be something like this.

—Because _really_ , who in their right mind _willingly_ accepts help from both Jaemin _and_ Donghyuck? That’s never ended well for _anybody_ and all of NCT knows it—hell all of _Korea_ knows it.

The last time anyone accepted help from the two it ended with Mark having half his hair shaved off and both his eyebrows dyed purple. It’s terrifying to think about what Donghyuck and Jaemin are capable of when they’re working together and Jeno shivers fearfully at the memory.

_He hopes that won’t end up happening to him or Renjun tonight._

Jeno regards the two with a jaded gaze; uncomfortable emotions twist and turn in his stomach like a category 5 hurricane _(“Hurricane NaHyuck”,_ Jeno begrudgingly calls it).

_How is this supposed to help him at all? All it’s doing is making him annoyed, grumpy and maybe just a teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy, little bit jealous. Just a little bit._

_“Ah,”_ Jeno realizes _, “...That might just be the plan...”_

Who is Jeno kidding, if the way Jaemin keeps wiggling his eyebrows at him means anything, it’s that both him and Donghyuck have decided that plan “ _Make Jeno jealous so he can confess his undying love/crush to Renjun!!!”_ was the best course of action.

Jeno deadpans with a sigh as Donghyuck catches his eye and has the audacity to smirk at him, what do they take him for? A five year old?

He scoffs in muted disbelief and turns his gaze towards Chenle who’s flipping through movie selections.

This plan is _ridiculous_.

Jeno’s a mature, grown 20 year old _man_ who has complete control of his emotions! He’s not gonna get jealous over something this stupid!

He’s much better than that!

He doesn’t cry when they watch Finding Nemo... _anymore_ (and if Donghyuck says otherwise, he’s a dirty _liar!_ ) and he also definitely didn’t whine and pout when Ten wouldn’t let him keep Louis (he’ll just have to steal him from them the next time he visits their dorm, easy).

So Jeno is definitely _an adult_ who won’t behave _jealous_ or _petty_ because he’s totally bigger than that.

—He shouldn’t even _be_ bothered because there’s literally nothing to be _jealous_ of!

Nothing to be jealous of at all!

He spares a glance at the three boys once more...

...And he’s not definitely _not_ jealous of the way Renjun’s contently sitting on both Donghyuck and Jaemin’s laps and leaning comfortably back into Jaemin’s embrace .The bastard is happily nuzzling into Renjun’s neck while Donghyuck, on the other hand, has his cheek lightly pressed to Renjun’s shoulder; his fingers gently intertwined with the older’s.

Jeno huffs and looks away, crossing his arms childishly,

_“I’m not jealous!”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They’re watching Spiderman; _again_ , because Chenle and Jisung can’t be denied _anything_ in this household and for a while everything the room is peaceful barring the sounds coming from the movie.

Jeno opts to make himself comfortable and tries as much as he can to lose himself in the fictional universe in front of him (which he knows is damn near impossible when all he can think about is how Donghyuck and Jaemin who Renjun almost _never_ lets cuddle him are doing exactly that but he’s trying, okay?!)

—And it seems to work quite easily because soon, Donghyuck and Jaemin grow puzzled at Jeno’s utter lack of reaction; he hasn’t looked over at Renjun in the past _15 minutes (that’s like, the longest they've seen Jeno go without looking at him)_ and Donghyuck is worried their plan might be failing.

_Why does he look so chill?_

Jaemin _**said**_ Jeno got jealous easily so why wasn’t he getting jealous?!! Donghyuck had half expected him to come over here and do some dramatic k-drama shit like whisk Renjun away and confess to him on their balcony like 20 minutes ago.

Donghyuck frowns, adjusting himself to get a better look at the other male who seems like he’s actually watching a movie that all of them know word for word with _genuine_ interest and Donghyuck comes to two conclusions:

It’s either Jeno’s trying _really_ hard to stay neutral or he really is apathetic.

—Either way, it’s _boring_ and Donghyuck isn’t a fan of being _bored._ He came here to start some shit and that’s exactly what he’s gonna do.

He gently nudges Jaemin with his socked foot and when the younger looks at him, Donghyuck gives him a firm nod in Renjun’s direction with a mischievous grin dancing on his lips. Jaemin smiles back in agreement and it’s at this point that the game _really_ begins.

It starts off with a sneaky, wandering hand and _then—_

“Yah! Jaemin! Stop touching my butt!” Renjun whines and soon all attention is back on them. Jaemin has a filthy smirk on his face while Renjun scowls sourly and pushes weakly at him, trying to untangle himself from the younger’s body.

Donghyuck follows suit, leaving virtually no time for Renjun to recover and pinches at his stomach and back through his t-shirt. He tries to shove his hand underneath the blond's clothes but Renjun's having _none. of. that._ He snarls aggressively and begins his assault on the two.

Jeno can feel his heart burning; heated fiery licks of bitter jealousy lap up from the pit of his stomach up to his throat and he knows he looks pissed.

_Why is he so upset?_

_It’s not like Renjun’s his boyfriend or anything..._

_He doesn’t_ **_get_ ** _to be upset._

He frowns deeply at the realization and angrily tears his eyes away from Jaemin and Donghyuck who are fully receiving the entirety of Renjun’s wrath.

It’s pointedly pretty hard to ignore their squeals of pain and whiny complaining voices as Renjun hooks an arm around Donghyuck’s neck, locking him in his signature chokehold with one hand while flailing his other arm and legs in Jaemin’s direction to get him to _back off_ and the growing annoyance on Chenle’s face is indicative of that.

_“Ow! Ow Ow!”_

“Can you guys maybe not?” comes Chenle’s whine from where he’s seated on the ground; Jisung’s leaned into him and he too, is glaring tiredly at their way too energetic hyungs and it has Jeno wondering who’s older than who here.

His complaint falls on deaf ears as Donghyuck and Jaemin continue to scream and squeal in pain (they’re definitely enjoying riling Renjun up though, don’t let them fool you).

As Renjun continues to punch and kick in Jaemin’s direction, he thinks it’s a wonder Renjun chose to become a kpop idol instead of literally any profession that’d allow him to beat people up because he’d do _great_ —and the pain in Jaemin’s arm stings in agreement.

“Alright! Alright! I’m sorry!” Jaemin gives in first after Renjun’s balled fist makes contact with his cheek; Jaemin’s certain he’ll be bruised from his face all down the inside of his leg tomorrow thanks to Renjun’s awfully painful kicks and punches.

“What are you? _A donkey_?” He cries, rubbing at his leg with a sad pout.

The oldest of the three gives Jaemin a heated glare causing the younger to throw his hands up in surrender because he’d rather Renjun not _break_ him tonight (he likes all of his bones unbroken and in place, thanks). Soon Renjun’s turning his full attention to Donghyuck to choke him _properly_ —y’know, with _both_ hands.

He’ll squeeze an apology out of him if he needs to and Donghyuck is more than aware of this but he wants to keep playing because getting Renjun upset is fun and his angry face is cute and Donghyuck thrives on such things.

“Guys, we’re trying to watch a movie.” Jeno finally speaks up and the hard look he’s giving Donghyuck makes him just as scared as it makes him amused.

The brunet scoffs, half smile tugging at his lips and for a second, he manages to forget that Renjun is in the middle of trying to asphyxiate him because he just can’t help but tease Jeno a little,

“Yeah right Lee Jeno, as if it’s the movie you really care abou— _ow!_ “

Renjun suddenly squeezes tighter and Donghyuck actually sees his life flash before his eyes—oh no, he can’t die yet—who’ll bully Mark and Doyoung when he’s gone?

The thought of Mark and Doyoung living a Donghyuck-free life (and that’s a very sad life if you ask him) without his constant pranks and teasing flashes before his eyes and he surrenders almost immediately because Mark and Doyoung don't deserve that kind of peace; Donghyuck won't allow it.

“ _Fine!_ I’m sorry!” comes Donghyuck’s laboured voice, he’s tapping rapidly against Renjun’s arm with his hands and when Jeno chances a look at him, it looks as if he might actually pass out if Renjun squeezes any harder.

Finally, the blond frees him and out comes an onslaught of coughing and heaving from the younger male. His face is pinched and flushed with an angry red and he wastes no time frowning at Renjun who doesn’t look the least bit sorry (Donghyuck maintains that Renjun isn’t capable of feeling that emotion).

“You bitch, you almost killed me!” He whines as feeling at his neck to assess the damage and Renjun shrugs, disinterested look on his face.

“Maybe I should have.”

“Yeah? And what will you tell the manager hyungs when NCT loses such a sexy and talented idol like me?” Donghyuck shoots back; earning him an annoyed eye-roll from Renjun who stares at him, unimpressed.

“That you fucking deserved it.”

“ _Renjunnie,_ you _wound_ me, all I wanted to do was love you, baby, can’t a man give and get some love around here?” Donghyuck grabs onto Renjun’s arm, pouting and whining like the big oversized baby he is.

Renjun huffs in annoyance, ripping his arm from Donghyuck’s hold and causing the younger to pout even more. He levels both boys with a glare that says “LEAVE ME ALONE OR ELSE…” before gently slipping from off their legs and onto a spot somewhere on the floor.

It’s quiet for a bit once more, Jeno’s long since stopped trying to pretend to watch the film and is quietly brooding by himself on the couch. He’s stealing glances at Donghyuck and Jaemin who seem to be far from giving up as they wave and smile mockingly at him from the small couch.

Jeno’s a little surprised they’ve recovered quickly enough to sit over there and mock him; he’s used to Jaemin whining and sulking for days on end because Renjun _“said a mean thing to him.”_

The Devil works hard but Jaemin and Donghyuck work harder (so Jeno has learned tonight) and after exactly 20 minutes, the two sneakily slip themselves down onto the floor as well. They scoot and shift across the floor and position themselves so that just like before, Renjun was once again seated smack between the two of them.

—And because Jaemin and Donghyuck have seemingly chucked their fear of death along with whatever remaining dignity they both had out the open living room window, they latch onto the older almost immediately with the promise that they’ll behave _“So please Renjunnie can we cuddle?”_

Renjun’s about to make a fuss but ends up sighing in resignation instead; he _really_ doesn’t understand why Donghyuck would suggest a movie night and then proceed to spend all of it teaming up with Jaemin to annoy him but he’s _tired_ and this part of the movie is _good_ so he’ll allow it, granted they don’t bother him too much and the two happily oblige.

Jeno bites his tongue and looks away, the awful churning in his stomach returns and he maybe wants to cry.

—But he _won’t!_ Because he’s _not_ jealous and he is an _adult!_

The movie ends shortly after and Jeno is more than ready to get up and go to his room so he can hide his face in his pillow and stealthily bawl himself to sleep without Renjun noticing.

He’s about to get up and go to his room when Jisung speaks up,

“Can we watch one more movie?” He asks excitedly, sitting up from where he’d had his head resting in Chenle’s lap. The older had been carding his fingers through his brown locks just moments ago and he startles a bit at Jisung’s sudden movements; the younger offers a meek apology afterwards and proceeds to hold the hand Chenle was previously using to pet his head before turning back to Jaemin expectantly.

_When did they become so cute and domestic? Wtf??_

Jeno’s both proud and jealous—no wait, _not_ jealous he isn’t jealous! He’s an _adult!_

“Oh! Can we?” Chenle joins in begging and jutting out his lip in Jaemin’s direction.

Jaemin shrugs from where he’s still latched onto Renjun’s right arm, it’s not like they have any schedules tomorrow really, but they also shouldn’t go to bed too late and as their resident (self-proclaimed) mother, he has to be _responsible._

But _man_ , is it hard to say no to both Chenle _and_ Jisung when they want something—he feels the two could probably cure cancer by just _asking_ it to go away.

Jaemin sighs,

“Okay babies! We can watch one more movie but after that, it’s bed time,” Jaemin concedes, clapping lightly and the kids cheer.

“—However, Hyuckie and I get to choose this one!”

“What? Why? You guys don’t deserve to!” Renjun groans cutting them both an annoyed look. Donghyuck had stood up to stretch while Jaemin was blindly feeling about the floor in an attempt to find the remote using the poor light from the television screen.

Renjun had moved from his space on the floor back to _his_ couch and it’s where he now sat glaring at the two.

Jaemin smiles innocently, fishing the remote out from underneath Chenle’s crossed legs.

“—Because I’m the mommy! And I get to choose what the babies watch.” He says as-a-matter-of-factly and Renjun fights the urge to slap him; he rolls his eyes and kicks his feet out in Jaemin’s general direction instead.

“You’re so fucking weird, what kind of reason is that?”

“Don’t worry about it,” The other dismisses him lightly as he and Donghyuck huddle together near the television effectively obscuring everyone else’s view of the screen, giggling like schoolgirls. This goes on for an excruciatingly long, hot minute and Renjun’s about to start complaining but then they step away to reveal that _ta-da!--_

They’ve chosen a horror movie.

Jeno can’t say he’s surprised based on the way Jaemin and Donghyuck were throwing him odd looks every so often from where they stood in front of him; he knew they were up to _something_ but he doesn’t really understand their actions...

It’s not like horror movies affect him or any of them in any significant way, _really_.

Sure, Jisung tends to get really jumpy and frightened and Renjun always gets— _wait..._

_Wait._

Jeno looks up to see both of them cozying up to a very pissed off Renjun once more with two of the most satisfied smiles he’s ever seen them wear and suddenly he understands.

_Ugh! Okay, Jeno will admit it, he’s jealous! He’s very jealous and this is unfair! He’s revoking Jaemin’s best friend card after this—he wonders if YangYang would be up to take his place..._

Jeno rolls his eyes in annoyance and flops himself backwards into the sofa. He kicks his feet up so he can lie down on his side and puts his focus on the television as the last of the beginning credits roll.

For a while the room is mostly quiet save for the television and the muted sound of the A/C whirring. Some moments earlier, Donghyuck had paused the movie and gone to close the window and turn the A/C on claiming that it’ll _“help set the mood for a good horror movie”_ (the look he gave Jeno as he pressed the buttons on the A/C remote said otherwise; something along the lines of _“IF IT’S COLDER RENJUN WILL WANNA CLING TO US MORE AND NOT YOU LOL SUCK IT LOSER,”_ Jeno guesses.)

Jaemin had volunteered to go get blankets for everyone but because Jeno was feeling _petty_ and _sour_ , he refused. Jaemin returns some moments later with two blankets and throws one at Chenle’s head pulling a weak ‘hey!’ from the younger male before he spreads it out so it covers both him and Jisung.

And now Donghyuck and Jaemin were once again, happily cuddled up on either side of Renjun in the tiny couch with a fluffy blanket spread over their legs, looking happier than they did the day Dream had their first concert (okay maybe _that’s_ not true but you get the point).

A few wandering hands, choked giggles and annoyed groans later, Renjun shoots up from his spot in between Jaemin and Donghyuck; the action pulls the blanket out of place and he accidentally (maybe purposefully) steps on Donghyuck’s toes in the process. They all look up at the oldest questioningly.

“...Uh, hyung?” Chenle asks meekly and Renjun whips around to give both Donghyuck and Jaemin pointed glares,

“If you two chucklefucks think I’m gonna sit in between you for _another_ 2 hour movie, you’ve hit your heads.” Jaemin and Donghyuck flinch a little and for the first time tonight, they look slightly taken aback; it makes Renjun feel so very _powerful_. He huffs indignantly, grabbing the rest of the blanket from Jaemin’s hands and leaving the two with nothing.

He spins back around and surveys the room for a bit; he’d sit on the ground but that’s possibly the _worst_ place to be during a horror movie (He doesn’t know how Chenle and Jisung do it but he _certainly_ won’t) and so he moves towards the sofa where Jeno is sprawled out and swats at his feet with the blanket.

Jeno’s a little shocked but doesn’t protest and like the big dumb obedient puppy he is whenever Renjun’s tells him to do _anything_ , he sits up immediately to make space for the blond (Jeno would drink swamp water if Renjun told him to and that’s just cold hard facts, _baby_ , Jeno’s a simp and he won’t deny it.)

—And with that, Renjun plops himself onto the sofa—as far away as he can from the Donghyuck and Jaemin and thus _exceptionally_ close to Jeno.

Jeno bites back a satisfied smile and if he had a tail it’d be wagging so hard right now.

Donghyuck and Jaemin’s faces morph from one of worry to one of pure satisfaction; they laugh joyfully albeit a little evil sounding and it catches Renjun very much off-guard.

_Why are they laughing? He just moved away from them???_

“Don’t get any weird ideas! If either of you come over here, I’ll beat you to death,” Renjun threatens yet it does nothing but make Jaemin and Donghyuck grin wider. Donghyuck shakes his head lightly, gaze shifting between Jeno and Renjun.

“Don’t worry baby, you’re right where we want you.” He croons sweetly, his expression is weird and syrupy sweet and Renjun knows he and Jaemin are up to something, he’s realized _that_ much but what could it be?

Why would they want him over here? _Away from them? After following him around and harassing him all night?_ It doesn’t really make any sense.

There’s something strange going on, that much Renjun is certain of but between Jaemin and Donghyuck’s odd behaviour, he can’t figure out what it is. They’re always weird like this so it’s really hard to tell if they really _are_ up to something or are just being annoying because they like it when Renjun gets mad (Renjun sighs, he needs new friends).

He drops the matter with a tired huff and turns his attention to the movie. He throws himself further back into the couch, pulling up the stolen blanket to his chest.

There’s a cute dog on screen, wagging its tail and barking; it looks an awful lot like Jeno and it’s at that moment he remembers Jeno’s presence; he’d been awfully quiet for most of the evening and suddenly Renjun remembers today’s earlier events and Jaemin’s words,

_“But seriously, you guys should like, get together already,”_

What the hell does he mean by that? Why would he and Jeno _“get together”?_

_Jeno doesn’t even like him like that..._

Renjun frowns, feeling a little awkward now where he sits, his body is maybe two inches away from to the younger’s and he scolds himself mentally for sitting so gosh darn _close_. He’d scoot away but there’s no way to do that without Jeno noticing which would ultimately make things _even_ weirder between them.

He’s sure Jeno’s still blaming himself for spilling water all over them and he’d rather not make him feel any _worse_.

He chances a look over at Jeno to find the other boy already staring, the action clearly startles him and he aggressively rips his attention away from Renjun and back towards the TV. The soft blue light from the television is bright enough for Renjun to catch Jeno’s ears growing pink and the way he’s looking at the screen in front of him makes it obvious that he’s still paying attention to Renjun even though he’s no longer looking at him.

Renjun grins a little because Jeno is _cute_ and it makes Renjun’s heart do inexplicable, embarrassing, shameful things that Donghyuck would definitely tease him about if he found out.

He nudges the younger softly and when Jeno looks at him he mouths a quiet, “You okay?” with a raised brow.

“I’m fi-“ Jeno stops short to clear his throat nervously, “I’m fine.”

 _“What an obvious lie,”_ Renjun thinks to himself, but he figures Jeno’s feeling just as odd as he is for the exact same reason and so he’ll drop it and focus on the movie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Renjun’s a grown-ass man, he’s the oldest and is fairly mature when compared to Jaemin or Donghyuck (to be fair, it’s not super hard to do that because have you _met_ Donghyuck and Jaemin?) but nothing gets under his skin more than horror movies and he figures that maybe this was all part of whatever weird plan Jaemin and Donghyuck clearly have (even if he’s not exactly sure just what plan that is yet).

He doesn’t do well with horror; everyone knows that.

—And so when the main character spins around and comes face to face with a gruesome looking demon with a disfigured face and mangled body, Renjun can’t help the shout he makes, nor can he help the way he clings to Jeno’s arm for dear life.

The sudden grab startles Jeno and Renjun’s about to apologize but the abrupt sharp music that plays followed by Chenle and Jisung’s collective shrieks has Renjun suddenly shoving his face into Jeno’s clothed arm. His grip on Jeno’s brown hoodie sleeve is firm and kind of hurts a little but Jeno couldn’t care less because, _fuck_ , Renjun looks so small and cute right now—and Jeno’s going to _explode_.

After the music calms down, Renjun removes his face from where it was wedged between Jeno’s arm and the couch and mindlessly goes back to watching. He remains huddled up beside Jeno, his head leaning against the younger’s shoulder and his legs folded in front of him up off of the ground. He has the blanket haphazardly thrown over his legs and most of it is falling off the sofa but he’s too distracted to notice

The movie carries on and every time there’s jump-scare Renjun hides his stupidly cute face in Jeno’s hoodie sleeve and squeezes his arm out of fear and Jeno’s heart _CANNOT_ handle it.

_Jeno wants to hold him._

It isn’t long before the movie comes to an end and once it’s over, Renjun seems to take notice of just how much closer he’d shifted to Jeno during it. He’s still leaning up against Jeno’s side, head resting on his shoulder but somewhere along the line, he’d gone from simply gripping Jeno’s sleeve to interlocking their arms together.

He has no idea when it happened but he clears his throat in embarrassment before he separates himself from Jeno slightly with a shy smile.

Jeno looks him up and down with an amused smile and notices just how _rough_ he looks, his hair is strewn everywhere, lips red from being bitten so much during the movie and Jeno can see the nervous energy pulsing through his entire being—he’s still tingling with fright and still seems a little on edge after the terrifying way the movie ended.

_Jeno_ **_really_ ** _wants to hold him._

“Sorry,” he says, straightening Jeno’s severely crushed sleeve out, “Why didn’t you tell me I was cutting off the blood flow in your arm?” He gives Jeno’s arm an apologetic pat eliciting a laugh from said boy.

“Its fine, I didn’t even realize.”

“You didn’t realize I was about to snap your arm in half?” Renjun laughs softly, his eyes twinkling with mirth thanks to the living room light (Jisung had turned it on the moment the movie had ended because he didn’t like the scary shadows in the room).

Jeno shrugs and goes to say something more but the moment is broken by Jaemin ( _again_ ) clearing his throat and clapping his hands, “Alright babies, bedtime!”

He switches the TV off and stretches so hard, his bones crack in a scarily audible manner that reminds Jeno of one of the demons in the movie.

“Hyung you’re so cruel! Why would you make us watch a horror movie right before bed?” Jisung whines, stomping his feet and Jaemin coos at his cuteness, reaching out in the younger’s direction.

“Awwwe, Jisungie! If you can’t sleep, Hyungie doesn’t mind cuddling you _weally_ tight tonight.” Jaemin grabs hold of Jisung’s cheeks, squishing and pulling them every which way, much to Jisung’s annoyance.

Chenle laughs at the cute display and takes great joy in seeing Jisung’s squished up pouting face.

“Sung, you’re such a scaredy-cat!” He cackles causing Jisung to frown more, his face looks really strange and scrunched up in Jaemin’s unrelenting hands as he continues to play with the younger’s face as if it were play-doh.

Chenle laughs again before grabbing hold of Jisung’s arm and lightly pulling him from Jaemin’s clutches.

“Come on you big dumb baby, we can play games on my phone if you can’t fall asleep.”

This draws a loud sound of displeasure from Jaemin,

“No! No games! Bed! Time!” he orders resolutely, folding his arms and glaring at them both. Chenle and Jisung disregard him completely (because when have they ever listened to what Jaemin had to say?) as they head in the direction of Jaemin and Jisung’s shared bedroom.

“Let’s lock Jaemin-hyung out so he can’t stop us,” comes Chenle’s way too loud voice and Jisung laughs evilly in agreement,

“ _Wha_ -lock me out and you two are dead!” The two run off, feet loudly thumping against the stairs as their laughter carries loudly through the dorm.

Jaemin’s about to go after them but just then, Donghyuck emerges from the bathroom wearing a t-shirt and boxers. He gives Jeno and Renjun who’re still seated fairly close together on the couch a smug look before grabbing a fuming Jaemin’s arm and pulling him towards the spare room.

“Shhh, it’s too late to be this loud, just sleep in the spare room with me—I’m too hot and sexy to sleep alone. The demon from the movie might try to make moves on me.” Donghyuck whines causing Jaemin to give a relenting snort.

“ _Hot and sexy my ass!_ You’re a gremlin!” Renjun quips loudly because he just can’t help himself when it comes to insulting Donghyuck (“It’s how I show my love and he deserves every insult I give!”).

“At least I have an ass!” Donghyuck retorts giving his butt a firm slap—the noise echoes through the dorm space and elicits an over-exaggerated gag from both Renjun and Jeno.

“Awe, how cute, they’re in unison!” He chirps sweetly before suddenly jerking a finger in their direction, “You two better be a thing when we wake up tomorrow or all me and Nana’s done tonight would be all for nothing.” Donghyuck says sternly before disappearing down the hall with Jaemin in the tow.

Renjun’s eyebrows furrow and Jeno can see the cogs turning in his head before he fixes Jeno with a quiet look.

“What the hell does he mean by that?”

Jeno swallows thickly and decides that after everything he’s been through tonight and the past few weeks, he does in fact, very much like Renjun and probably has for longer than he’s been aware of.

He doesn’t feel bad for liking a boy like Renjun and his admiration for him runs unbelievably deep. Renjun’s beautiful in every sense of the word; he’s talented, funny and exceptionally charming. He’s fun to tease and he’s cute when he gets annoyed or flustered. He’s cute when he’s smiling and even when he’s crying. Renjun’s unbelievably smart and clever and is not only fluent in Mandarin and Korean but English too (Jeno can’t help the way his heart flutters when he hears Renjun switch from Korean to his native tongue—he can’t understand a single word but Renjun’s voice is pretty and the way he talks is nice and so Jeno can’t really complain). Speaking of Renjun’s voice, Jeno thinks it’s warm and sweet like honey and whether he’s simply humming some Disney song or fully giving it his all on stage, Jeno loves hearing it.

—And so without second guessing it he blurts out the words: “I like you.”

Renjun is shocked and understandably so; the older male is awfully expressive and does a terrible job at hiding it as his eyes grow and his eyebrows shoot upwards into his hairline.

Jeno tries to calm his beating heart and catch his breath without giving away just how nervous he is. They sit in painful silence as Renjun regards him with a new expression he can’t read.

His eyebrows are even more scrunched up than before and he’s been quiet for what Jeno knows has only been a few seconds but feels like _decades_.

Jeno doesn’t feel bad for liking a boy like Renjun but maybe he regrets _telling_ him so soon.

_What if it wasn’t the right time?_

_What if Renjun likes someone else?_

_What if Renjun hates him?_

That would destroy him from the inside out; he’d most certainly have to leave NCT Dream after that. He wouldn’t be able to live in the same dorm much less exist in the same group as him.

He’ll really have to drill that hole now, _oh gosh._

Jeno begins to panic and is about to shout “April Fools!” despite it being the middle of August but then Renjun’s face becomes shy and colouring all across his face gives away his flustered state.

“Are you serious? You’re not...like... _joking_ , right?”

Renjun has head hung low; his small fingers fidget and pull at the hem of his blue shorts. He looks meek and apprehensive; a delicate side of him that Jeno’s almost certain he’s never seen before.

The black haired male finds his heart swelling, shyness overcoming him as well. He finds that all his previous confidence has slipped out from under him and all he can feel are his nerves.

Renjun chances a look at him when Jeno finally breathes out a timid ‘yes.’

“Yes, I mean it.” He says a lot more confidently afterwards, “I donno how or when it happened but like, Jaemin pointed out and I didn’t believe him at first because Jaemin’s always saying some shit but then I started to realize that I’d started seeing you differently from way before I’d even noticed—“ Jeno pauses to take a breath, wondering if he should really go on or not but with the way Renjun’s looking at him in shock and awe, he decides to say “fuck it” and pour his heart out because Renjun deserves to hear this.

“You’re entire existence is so special and beautiful and you’re really pretty when you’re doing stuff you love like painting and you’re really cute even when you’re not trying and I donno when I went from seeing you as Renjun the cute dorky looking hyung with a snaggletooth to Renjun the boy who I wanna kiss and hold and take on dates or whatever but, _man_ , Renjun believe me when I say, I really, _really_ like you.”

There’s a small beat of silence, Jeno watching Renjun’s every move, every expression that flashes across his features before he settles on a face splitting smile; he’s flushed a bright red but Jeno’s certain he’s flushed in the exact same way.

Suddenly Renjun’s tiny body is wracking with cheer filled laughter, his eyes are squeezed shut and he nearly falls off the couch—Jeno throws him a confused look and Renjun can’t help but laugh harder.

“Pfft! A-and all this time! _I thought_ -I thought! You liked Jaemin.”

Hold up. _What?_

_“Jaemin?”_ Jeno gawks incredulously; His brain short-circuits at the mere idea that anyone would even think that he’d like Jaemin for even a second. He loves the younger male, definitely, but Jaemin’s an annoying little pervert man and very much _not_ Jeno’s type.

Renjun takes Jeno’s hands in his and with a dismissive shake of his head, his laughter finally dies down. The mirth in his teary brown eyes remain as he continues to smile and stare at Jeno fondly.

“I like you too, idiot,” He replies, squeezing Jeno’s hands lightly, “--but all this time I thought you liked Jaemin so I thought you weren’t interested in me.”

 _“Jaemin?”_ Jeno repeats, his tone laced with just as much disbelief as it was earlier—if not more.

“ _Stop_ ,” Renjun whines, soft, embarrassed laughter falling from his lips, “Yes, _Jaemin!_ You guys are so close! You’ve known each other for _ages!_ — _”_

“—Hell, you’re both able to communicate by just looking at each other, how was I supposed to compete with that? There was even that one time he said all that stuff about us ‘getting together’ you looked so upset! Dude, I thought you hated me! ” Renjun wails and Jeno finds it all too heartrending and endearing all at the same time.

Jeno can’t help the giggles that escape him and Renjun joins in too.

They’re still holding hands and the level of intimacy it brings fills Jeno’s chest. They go silent for a split second and Jeno’s eyes drop to Renjun’s smiling lips then back up to his eyes; this doesn’t go unnoticed by Renjun and Jeno can see hear the exact moment his heart rate speeds up.

_He’s so cute._

Jeno wants nothing more than to kiss him and he has for a _while_ now.

The way Renjun’s looking at him from under his eyelashes makes Jeno unbelievably giddy and before he can stop himself he blurts out: “Can I kiss you?”

His heart’s beating equally as fast as and as loud as Renjun’s, if not more, and when Renjun nods, Jeno feels himself brush near the verge of tears.

He lets go of one of Renjun’s hands in favour of tenderly placing a hand on Renjun’s cheek; it draws a small, shaky breath from the older male and Jeno can feel just how wound up with excitement and nerves the blond is.

_Maybe he’s wanted this as much as Jeno has for much longer than he’s been aware of?_

He surges forward allowing his lips to just barely ghost over Renjun’s and the older boy shivers at the feeling; too eager to have his lips on Jeno’s, he closes the gap himself, shoving himself even more into the younger’s personal space so that they’re both pressed closely together.

Jeno giggles into the kiss and he can feel the way Renjun’s lips upturn into a small smile as Jeno takes hold of his face properly with both hands and presses just a little deeper—all those months (correction: _years_ ) of pining are poured out between the two through the first of many other kisses they share.

Its goes from soft and simple to charged and passionate in a millisecond and Renjun lets Jeno _take_ and _take_ and _take,_ allowing the other to assume full control of the kiss; the older boy sighs, lips falling open when Jeno’s fingers brush softly at his cheeks and the other boy hums appreciatively, eagerly licking into Renjun’s open mouth.

Jeno breaks the kiss first, pulling away just far enough that Renjun can still feel Jeno’s breath fan across his lips. The latter still has his eyes closed, long eyelashes casting shadows on his cheeks from the muted overhead lights of the living room. His expression is soft and tranquil and Jeno wastes no time in pressing an equally soft kiss to his forehead, then his nose and then his lips once more.

He’s about to pull away when Renjun eyes open abruptly and he gives Jeno a playful glare,

“Jeno, _again_ ,” He whines and Jeno’s a little shocked because the last person he expects to be clingy is _Renjun_. From that alone, Jeno knows he won’t be able to deny Renjun anything, _ever_ so he presses another kiss to his lips, lingering for just a moment before moving back and grinning,

“We should probably go to bed now—if Donghyuck or Jaemin see us making out on the couch they’ll never let either of us live.”

Jeno allows his hands to fall to his own lap as Renjun begins laughing, clapping his hands loudly as he does.

“I’ll do you one better,” Renjun posits, an unmistakable sparkle of mischief in his eyes, “How about we take the making out to our room?”

And truthfully, _how could Lee Jeno say no to that?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The NoRen ship is sailing. It doesn't stay a secret for long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooooooo hi!!  
> I've returned with the last chapter!! Its more of a lil bonus than anything else lol yay!  
> okay enjoy <3  
> comments and kudos are always appreciated love you all bye <3

**BONUS:**

It doesn’t take long for the rest of the dreamies to realize that Jeno and Renjun were now— _well_ , _something—_ they all found out that very morning, _to be exact._

When Jeno stumbles out of his room, exhaustion heavy on his face and hair absolutely dishevelled, no one at the table bats an eye as he joins them for a breakfast of bacon and eggs made by their resident chef, self-proclaimed mother (and _headache_ ), Na Jaemin.

Jaemin’s already changed out of what he’d worn to bed last night and Jeno figures he’s already had a shower as well (it’s amazing what coffee does for his best friend). Jisung and Chenle look just as tired as Jeno feels and he figures they probably stayed up as late as he and Renjun did last night.

Donghyuck sits in his usual chair, scrolling through SNS with one hand while shovelling eggs in his mouth with the other. He doesn’t seem as tired as the rest of them, just a little rough with his brown hair messily strewn in every which way.

What _does_ garner the attention of the other boys is when Renjun stumbles out of his and Jeno’s shared room some time later and bypasses his usual seat at the table (the one right beside Donghyuck and across from Jaemin) in favour of plopping himself in Jeno’s lap.

He mumbles a raspy morning to everyone at the table before turning around and wrapping his arms around Jeno’s neck, shoving his face into the juncture between his shoulder and jaw line and seemingly falling right back asleep.

Jeno’s more than awake now as he watches the rest of his band mates faces with pure _embarrassment._ Jaemin and Donghyuck gape at the two incredulously before they share a look of excitement, squealing in delight as they realize their plan had worked like a charm.

Jisung and Chenle, on the other hand, look on with varying degrees of shock and confusion written all across they’re faces. Jisung slowly puts down his fork as he gazes around the room for answers or some sort of explanation as to why _Renjun_ of all people was cuddled up against Jeno’s neck and seated in his lap, half asleep.

The gears in Chenle’s brain begin visibly turning as the realization of everything that’s been going on finally hits him and he shouts out loudly as if he’s finally cracked some special, secret code. His eyes are as wide as saucers when he shoots an accusatory look at Donghyuck and Jaemin who’re still celebrating the morning’s most recent developments.

“ _You two_! Is this what all that stuff last night was about? I knew you two were up to something!” Chenle screeches, “You were trying to get Jeno-hyung jealous so that he’d finally make a move on Renjun-hyung!”

The two boys in question stare at Chenle in bewilderment; Donghyuck puts a finger up to his lips and Jaemin gives him an incredulous look that screams " _Hey could you maybe NOT expose us while Renjun's sitting **right there** , please?"_

Chenle disregards them in favour of continuing with a small, playful smirk, “...Though, I _mean_ ,” he pauses for emphasis, “ _It’s about time_ but _still!_ I was wondering why you guys were being more annoying than usual last night.”

Jisung’s face grows even farther confused as his gaze drops towards his half eaten egg.

The younger chinese boy smiles mischievously and begins picking at his own egg again, "Usually you two would've stopped after the first death threat but now I see what was going on--"

"Shhhh!!" Donghyuck hisses, throwing a kitchen towel at the younger which only causes him to grin wider; he feigns pure innocence as he places another piece of egg in his mouth before using the exact same kitchen towel Donghyuck had launched at him to dab at his lips.

_Oh, Chenle knows exactly what he's doing and its only a matter of time before--_

Renjun's head flies up from where it had been previously resting on Jeno's shoulder _,_ he shifts just a tiny bit so he can look at both Jaemin and Donghyuck who look back at him with wide fearful eyes.

Chenle grins darkly and waits for everything to unfold from there.

_Donghyuck might like to start shit but so does Zhong Chenle (Plus! Chenle thinks its what they deserve for making his big baby of a boyfriend watch a horror movie before bed! Do you know how many times last night Chenle had to reassure Jisung that the shadows on the wall weren't demons waiting to eat him?)._

“... _That’s_ what all of that was? You guys harassed me through _Spiderman_ so Jeno and I could get together?” Renjun sneers, he’s taken up a fork from the table and points it in the direction of the two threateningly.

They both blanch, looking at him in pure horror because an angry Renjun may be _cute_ but it’s not a nice Renjun.

—An angry Renjun with a _weapon_ however, is cause for serious concern.

“B-but, shouldn’t you be thankful? You’ve been pining over Jeno for literal _years!_ You told Hyuck you liked Jeno since debut! And _now_ thanks to _us_ —“

Jaemin’s words are cut off by Donghyuck’s hand, coming up to forcefully muffle his speech. The flush on Renjun’s face is a tell-tale sign of embarrassment or rage—or both? _Whatever_ it is Donghyuck becomes wary as he watches Renjun’s eyes widen and his body stiffen.

Donghyuck concludes based on that reaction, that Jeno still hadn’t known that Renjun had liked him for that long because knowing Renjun, he was probably too shy to say it—and Jaemin just casually let that slip in front of _everybody_.

Renjun’s going to _murder_ them.

The rest of the members look equally shocked and the dining room is completely silent—deafeningly so and Donghyuck genuinely worries for his and Jaemin’s safety.

Suddenly Renjun’s face breaks out into a tight lipped smile; His lips stretch from one ear to the next, his eyes fall into slits and his cheeks puff out in a way that could only be described as painful.

It’s an unsettling kind of smile and Donghyuck finds himself having trouble swallowing. Jaemin’s mouth is still covered up as Donghyuck fears he might say something that’ll dig their grave even deeper.

The clinking of the fork coming in direct contact with Jeno’s plate beneath is what pulls everyone’s attention from Renjun’s menacing facial expression. He’s dropped the fork, propping his chin up using his now empty left hand as his elbow rests on the dining table.

“Oh, _Nana!_ I _am_ grateful! So I grateful that I could just _kill_ the both of you with all my _love_!” He grits out before adding sweetly, Donghyuck and Jaemin regard him apprehensively and the oldest continues.

“—Or with a _kitchen knife_.” He appends, the smile on his face never faltering as he gets up and steadily makes his way to the knife drawer...

—And if Jeno has to pry a very large, _very_ sharp kitchen knife from an enraged Renjun while Donghyuck and Jaemin cower in fear behind a locked bathroom door—nobody has to know.

Please don’t tell their manager, he’ll get mad.

_“ **Chenle, Jisung, help me!** ” Jeno pleads with exasperation, trying his best to calm Renjun down enough so he can pry the knife from his fingers._

_“No way! He ‘s your boyfriend, he won’t kill you!” Jisung squeaks in fear, hidden behind Chenle’s shorter frame. They’re sitting on the couch, huddling together as Chenle holds up a couch cushion in front of him._

_“He’d stab us with no remorse and you know that!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap!!  
> Thank you guys for reading!! And I hope it was enjoyable!!  
> Stay safe and take care! wooo!! <3  
> okay cool and good bye <3


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